Autumn Ball (Sügisball)

A black (non)comedy about loneliness, desperation, hope and the eternal desire for happiness. Six lost souls live in a repulsive housing development from the Soviet era. In a gently stylised film full of absurd humour, Laura the single mother, writer Mati whose wife has left him, Kaski the hairdresser suspected of paedophilia, Maurer the architect and Theo the promiscuous cloakroom attendant, try to come to terms with their lives. The visually captivating and atmospheric film reveals the intimately familiar feelings of inhabitants of post-Communist countries and the conditions of upheaval, unhappiness and loneliness. These existential themes, however, are more of a starting point for an ironic – though empathetic – portrayal of the lives of the charismatic protagonists. Instead of employing a classic dramatic structure, the film allows its events to play out freely, combining the meticulous North European sense of absurd humour with the depressive Eastern European view of the world. Autumn Ball came away with the Grand Prix for Best Film in the Horizons section of the 2007 Venice Film Festival. It was also awarded prizes in Bratislava, Marrakesh and Thessaloniki.